Roberto Colaninno (16 August 1943 – 18 August 2023) was an Italian businessman. He served as president of

Piaggio Piaggio Group () is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under five brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Derbi. Its corporate headquarters are ...

from 2006 till his death.

Life and career

Born in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

into an

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

n family, Colaninno graduated in accounting, and in 1969 he started working at Fiaam, a company producing car filters, becoming its managing director and later its CEO. In 1981, he founded in his hometown SOGEFI, another auto components company, which was later acquired from

CIR Group CIR Group (''Compagnie Industriali Riunite'') is an Italian holding company that is active in media, automotive components, and the healthcare sectors. It is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange and is 46% controlled by COFIDE of the De Benedetti ...

. In 1996, he became CEO of

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been owned b ...

, and during his tenure he sold Olivetti's subsidiaries Omnitel and Infostrada to

Mannesmann Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG" (lit. "German-Austrian Mannesmann pipe-works joint-s ...

for about 7 billion lire, and then took part in the 1999

Telecom Italia TIM S.p.A. (formerly Telecom Italia S.p.A.) is an Italian telecommunications company with headquarters in Rome, Milan, and Naples (with the Telecom Italia Tower), which provides fixed, public and mobile telephony, and DSL data services. It is ...

takeover together with Emilio Gnutti and Giovanni Consorte. In 2002, Colaninno resigned from Olivetti in disagreement with the decision to sell Telecom to

Marco Tronchetti Provera Marco Tronchetti Provera (; born 1948) is an Italian businessman. He formerly served as chief executive officer of the Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli & Co. S.p.A. from 1992 to 2022, where he continues to serve as executive vice chairman. ...

, and thanks to the sale of stock options and minority stakes as well as his

severance package A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwilfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following: * Any additional payment based ...

he acquired IMMSI, an industrial holding company, and in 2003 he took control of

, becoming its president and successfully relaunching the brand. In 2008, he was part of the "Compagnia Aerea Italiana" (CAI) consortium which acquired

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. ...

. During his career Colaninno received various honours, notably the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, the title of

Cavaliere del Lavoro The Order of Merit for Labour () is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III. It is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and commerce, crafts, lending and in ...

and an honorary degree in economics and business from the

University of Lecce The University of Salento (, called until 2007 ''Università degli Studi di Lecce'') is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 by Giuseppe Codacci Pisanelli. The university of Salento commenced activities in the academic year ...

. He died on 5 August 2023, at the age of 80.

References

External links

Roberto Colaninno
at

Treccani Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colaninno, Roberto 1943 births 2023 deaths People from Mantua Italian businesspeople Recipients of the Order of Merit for Labour Recipients of the Legion of Honour